MAVEN Status Updates

MAVEN Mission Status Updates - Archives

Dec. 3, 2014

MAVEN is now fully into its science phase at Mars and the scientists have been releasing exciting results, not the least of which were recent findings from the Comet Siding Spring encounter. The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer was able to observe intense emissions from magnesium and iron ions in the atmosphere in the aftermath of the comet encounter. The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer directly sampled and determined the composition of comet dust in Mars’ atmosphere, something that has never been done before. Our Solar Energetic Particle instrument observed significant solar activity both in the form of flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun to Mars. We also generated a map of Mars’ ozone layer in the lower atmosphere. Finally, we’ve been able to provide a view of the escaping atmosphere of Mars showing the loss of atomic oxygen, atomic carbon and atomic hydrogen. Great science with much more to come!

Final pre-science phase checkouts of the MAVEN system also included a full demonstration of the Electra Relay capability between MAVEN and the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. MAVEN relayed the image below from Curiosity's Navigation Camera to Earth on Nov. 6. This image shows part of the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop and was taken at Mars on Oct. 23. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

On a personal note, I transitioned off of the MAVEN project in November and am moving on to my next adventure. Per plan, the standalone MAVEN project will be managed within Goddard’s Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) Project. Led by Rich Burns, SSMO is a multi-mission operations project that receives missions from the “development projects” and manages them through long-term operations. The MAVEN principal investigator, the science team, and all MAVEN partner institutions (University of Colorado/Boulder, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, University of California/Berkeley, Lockheed Martin, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) will continue on with the MAVEN mission.

You can continue to follow MAVEN on Facebook and Twitter, and by visiting the following websites:

It has been a great pleasure and honor to work with this team, really a highlight of my career. I’ll leave you with a video titled “Voices of MAVEN” that was recently posted to the web. The people in the video represent hundreds of others who have made MAVEN such a great mission. Go MAVEN!

Nov. 29, 2014

As of Friday, Nov. 28, the MAVEN science instruments have been turned back on following safe-mode recovery, and we have resumed collecting science data.

Nov. 22, 2014

After ground testing and careful review over the last two days, MAVEN was successfully brought out of Safehold Mode the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 21. The spacecraft is operating nominally in Earth-Point Mode with high-rate communications. All the instruments are safe and are currently off. The spacecraft will be monitored over the weekend to ensure a safe condition before the instruments are turned back on.

Nov. 20, 2014

MAVEN went into safehold mode on Wednesday, Nov. 19. The spacecraft goes into this state autonomously, when it detects a problem with its operations, to ensure that it stays safe and in contact with Earth. Safehold was triggered by a timing conflict between commands. This is part of learning how to operate the spacecraft in a new environment, as this is the first time the spacecraft has been in its full science-operations scenario. The instruments have all been turned off and are safe, the spacecraft is healthy and in high-data-rate contact with Earth. The spacecraft operations team is currently developing the schedule to return MAVEN to science operations.

Nov. 17, 2014

MAVEN Completes Commissioning And Begins Its Primary Science Mission

The MAVEN spacecraft completed its commissioning activities on November 16 and has formally begun its one-year primary science mission. The start of science is actually a “soft start”, in that the instruments started making science measurements beginning almost as soon as we were in orbit, and some instrument calibration activities will be continuing throughout the mission.

Spacecraft commissioning, in what the MAVEN team called its “transition phase”, included adjusting the orbit to get into its science orbit, deploying the booms that hold a number of the instruments away from the spacecraft, ejecting the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) instrument cover, turning on and checking out each of the science instruments, and carrying out calibration activities for both the spacecraft and the instruments. This period also included the close approach of Comet Siding Spring, which whizzed by Mars at a distance of only ~135,000 km on October 19.

During this transition phase, we were able to get some early science observations. We made observations from MAVEN’s initial 35-hour capture orbit immediately after the large Mars Orbit Insertion maneuver on Sept. 21. From this capture orbit, which took the spacecraft to much higher altitudes than our science-mapping orbit will, we used the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument to observe the extended clouds of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen surrounding the planet. These “coronae” extend out to more than ten planetary radii, and this orbit allowed us to make measurements of the clouds’ spatial extent to higher altitudes than we can during the primary mission. We also took time off from commissioning to observe the comet and to take before and after observations of the Mars atmosphere to look for changes. IUVS and NGIMS observations both revealed a tremendous quantity of metal ions that came from cometary dust that entered the atmosphere. Their presence was unexpected, in that the nominal models of the paths taken by dust grains, calculated prior to the comet passage, indicated that no dust would make it all the way to Mars. We’re certainly glad that we took precautions to protect us from dust during the encounter!

During science mapping, the spacecraft will carry out regular observations of the Martian upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and solar-wind interactions. MAVEN will observe from an elliptical orbit that gets as low as about 150 km above the surface and as high as 6000 km. The nine science instruments will observe the energy from the Sun that hits Mars, the response of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, and the way that the interactions lead to loss of gas from the top of the atmosphere to space. Our goal is to understand the processes by which escape to space occurs, and to learn enough to be able to extrapolate backwards in time and determine the total amount of gas lost to space over time. This will help us understand why the Martian climate changed over time, from an early warmer and wetter environment to the cold, dry planet we see today.

From the observations made both during the cruise to Mars and during the transition phase, we know that our instruments are working well. The spacecraft also is operating smoothly, with very few “hiccups” so far. The science team is ready to go! Of course, standing behind the science team are literally hundreds of engineers who designed, built, tested, and integrated together the spacecraft and the science instruments, and who operate the spacecraft daily (and, when called upon, even in the middle of the night). The MAVEN team consists of researchers at the University of Colorado, NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center, University of California at Berkeley, Lockheed Martin, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as well as colleagues at numerous other institutions who participated in developing the flight hardware and in doing the science analysis. Space exploration is a “team sport”, and the success of the whole team allows us to do our science.

With the formal start of our science mission, we’re on track to be able to carry out our full mission as planned, and the science team is looking forward to an incredibly exciting year!

Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN Principal Investigator at University of Colorado/LASP

Oct. 31, 2014

October was a very busy time for the team. We performed a total of 3 engine burns this month in order to get MAVEN down to its planned science orbit with an orbital period of 4.6 hours and a periapsis (closest distance from the Mars Surface) of 175 kilometers. The periapsis altitude is a bit higher than the original plan of 150 kilometers only because we’ve dialed in the MAVEN orbit to support the science team’s atmospheric density requirement versus a specific altitude. We learn things about the Mars environment and adjust accordingly. All instruments have been successfully deployed and we safely “dodged” a comet. The scientists are poring over the data received from the Comet Siding Spring close encounter and we look forward to hearing about the exciting science results in the near future.

Checkout and calibration of the MAVEN system will continue over the next couple weeks. We have a few more items to check off our “punch list” before starting Science Phase in mid-November. Included in this list is a communications test with the Curiosity rover which is operating on the surface of Mars.

Oct. 15, 2014

Commissioning activities have gone extremely well over the few weeks since MAVEN entered Mars orbit on September 21. Since then, we have successfully completed four engine burns to lower MAVEN’s orbit. MAVEN now orbits Mars every 4.6 hours with a periapsis (closest distance from the Mars surface) of 175 kilometers. All instruments are activated, and we are seeing data that represents exciting first science from the Mars upper atmosphere. Just yesterday the science team held a telephone conference call with the media to discuss early results.

Over the past week we successfully completed five deployments of MAVEN instrument systems needed for six of the eight MAVEN instruments. The majority of the instruments had been stowed since prior to the November 2013 launch. With MAVEN now in Mars orbit, it was safe to fire the pyros that released appendages integral to various instruments and one protective sealing cap on the mass spectrometer. The spacecraft and all payloads are now configured for the science phase that we have been planning for over the past decade.

Now we turn our attention to preparing for Comet Siding Spring. Comet Siding Spring will make its closest approach to Mars on Sunday, October 19. The comet nucleus is predicted to get within 135,000 kilometers of Mars, about one third the distance between the Earth and Moon! The team will take advantage of this very rare close encounter with a comet by taking science on the days leading up to and following Comet Siding Spring’s arrival, measuring its impact on Mars’ upper atmosphere. On the day of closest approach, MAVEN will be in a protective “hunker down” mode until the comet and its gas/dust tail pass by. Months of long-distance comet observations, analysis, and modeling indicate that MAVEN will be safe during the encounter and still be able to obtain incredible science from the event. Following this activity, we will resume final commissioning. Assuming all proceeds according to plan, prime science will begin on November 8. To learn more about MAVEN, visit the following websites:

Oct. 10, 2014

Since Mars Orbit Insertion on September 21st, things have gone extremely well with the MAVEN spacecraft and the instruments that have been activated thus far. There have been a total of 4 separate engine burns since MOI that have brought MAVEN’s orbital period down to approximately 4.6 hours and a periapsis (closest distance from the Mars surface) of 175 kilometers. Several of the instruments have been activated and we are now seeing data sets from the instruments that we believe will provide great science results on the Mars upper atmosphere. Additionally, the two Langmuir Probe & Waves appendages were successfully deployed on October 9th. The remaining instrument deployments will occur over the next several days.

Sept. 30, 2014

Everything is going well on the mission as MAVEN orbits Mars! All systems are performing nominally. Following Mars Orbit Insertion on Sept. 21 the spacecraft successfully completed two engine burns which brings MAVEN closer to its planned science orbit. We have lowered MAVEN from the 35 hour capture orbit into its current 5.5 hour orbit period. In the weeks to come we’ll perform additional engine burns to get MAVEN into a 4.5 hour orbit period and the required atmospheric density corridor.

We are also preparing for five separate instrument deployments in the month of October. If all of these execute per plan, we will be targeting a "bonus science” opportunity with the approaching Comet Siding Spring, the comet that will miss Mars by about 135,000 kilometers on Oct. 19. MAVEN will have a front row seat for this “once in many lifetimes” opportunity.

The scientists are already getting an early look at what MAVEN at Mars will mean for the science. As released last week, the exciting results coming from the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer (IUVS) is just a tip of the iceberg, with many other instrument activations and appendage deployments to come over the next few weeks.

Sept. 22, 2014

Right on schedule on Sept. 21 at 9:50 p.m. EDT, the MAVEN spacecraft fired its main engines for 33 minutes and 26 seconds in order to slow down the spacecraft enough to capture into Mars orbit. Following that event about 10:30 p.m. EDT, David Folta, the Goddard Mission Design/Navigation lead stationed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory made the call that we were all waiting for, "Based on observed navigation data, congratulations, MAVEN is now in Mars orbit". The spacecraft team listening on the net at the Lockheed Martin Mission Operations Center erupted with cheers of happiness and relief. Our one shot to get MAVEN safely into Mars orbit had been successful. For some on the Project, it was the culmination of 11 years of work and for many others, it is now the beginning of the science mission.

Following the MOI maneuver, the navigation team determined that MAVEN has an orbital period around Mars of 35.02 hours (nominal plan of 35 hours). Essentially, right on the money! Tomorrow night around midnight we will perform the first post-MOI engine burn (Periapsis Lowering Maneuver-1). PLM-1 will be a 109 second burn on the smaller TCM engines. In the weeks ahead there will be additional engine burns which will eventually get MAVEN into its primary science orbit with an orbital period of 4.5 hours.

Three of the eight science instruments (Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer, Magnetometer, and Solar Energetic Particle instrument) were activated today. Additionally, there will be a series of instrument deployments before transitioning to the primary science phase in early November.

Sept. 21, 2014

Everything is set for MAVEN’s arrival at Mars tonight. All spacecraft systems are operating nominally. MAVEN is right on track without the need for any further trajectory correction maneuvers.

Tonight MAVEN will slew (turn) to point the main engines in the direction of travel and fire for about 33 minutes in order to slow down the spacecraft enough to “capture” into Mars orbit. Although we have direct line of sight of MAVEN during the entire burn sequence, the observed data back on Earth will actually be viewed 12 minutes after the events occur because of the distance between Earth and Mars. Also, check out the MAVEN MOI video that has been posted to the web: http://youtu.be/1Hm8b-L62y4

Live Television Coverage of the MOI Event will occur tonight between 9:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. EDT. The Post-MOI Press Conference will occur approximately 2 hours after MOI. These events can be watched through the “NASA Channel” on your cable/satellite TV system or by going to www.nasa.gov/ntv.

Sept. 15, 2014

Everything continues to go well with MAVEN as it is readied for arrival at Mars on Sunday, Sept. 21. All spacecraft systems are operating nominally. We had scheduled a final Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM-4) for Sept. 12. However, the maneuver was cancelled because the flight path did not warrant a correction. MAVEN is right on track.

In the next few days the Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) sequence will commence on the spacecraft. Most commands will be performed autonomously (without the need for commanding from Earth). However, there are two ground command opportunities still available to alter the spacecraft’s flight path, if necessary, in order to raise altitude for its first pass at Mars. These altitude raise decisions will be made by the project at about 24 hours and 6 hours prior to MOI, in close coordination with the navigation team and the navigation advisory group. Right now we don’t expect to need an additional maneuver because of how well the spacecraft is flying.

On Sunday evening, MAVEN will slew (turn) to point the main engines in the direction of travel and fire for about 33 minutes in order to slow down the spacecraft enough to “capture” into Mars orbit. Although we have direct line of sight of MAVEN during the entire burn sequence, the observed data back on Earth will actually be viewed 12 minutes after the events occur because of the distance between Earth and Mars. For more details, check out the MAVEN MOI video.

As we approach the last few days before arriving at Mars, you might be interested in the following events:

Pre-MOI Press Conference at NASA Headquarters: Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. EDT

Live Television Coverage of the MOI Event: Sept. 21 from 9:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. EDT

All of these events can be watched on the “NASA Channel” on your cable or satellite TV system, or by visiting www.nasa.gov/ntv.

As of Sept. 15, the spacecraft is 134 million miles (216 million kilometers) from Earth and 1.2 million miles (2 million kilometers) from Mars. From that distance, Mars as seen by MAVEN is the same size as a baseball as seen from 73 feet away. MAVEN’s velocity is 50,174 miles per hour (22.43 kilometers per second) as it moves around the sun.

Aug. 29, 2014

MAVEN continues on a smooth journey to Mars. All spacecraft systems are operating nominally. Since we are now in a “pre-Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) moratorium”, all instruments are powered off until after we arrive at the Red Planet.

We had scheduled a final Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM-4) for September 12th. The first and second TCMs occurred in December 2013 and February 2014, respectively. The scheduled TCM-3 in July was cancelled because the flight path at the time did not warrant a correction maneuver. As a result of a meeting held on August 26th, it now appears that TCM-4 will also be cancelled. We are tracking right where we want to be. On September 4th we will make a final decision on cancelling this last TCM.

The MAVEN navigation team successfully completed a four-day operational readiness test for the future “deep dip” campaigns planned during the prime science phase.The deep dips are maneuvers that will bring the spacecraft down lower into the Mars atmosphere (approximately 125 kilometers from the surface of Mars). The first deep dip campaign is planned for January 2015.

There was also a review at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the Deep Space Network (DSN) team to determine its readiness to support Mars Orbit Insertion. The DSN is comprised of a series of antennas/stations that are located around the world and enable us to have continuous communications contact with MAVEN during critical events. The review was successful; DSN is ready to support us on MOI night.

The MAVEN operations team successfully completed the final MOI operational readiness test. Participants supported the rehearsal from their respective day-of-event locations, including the Lockheed Martin operations center in Denver, Colorado, the backup operations center at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Everything went off without a hitch. The team and all assets are ready.

July 31, 2014

MAVEN continues on a smooth journey to Mars. All spacecraft and instrument systems are operating nominally. This month was a busy time for spacecraft operations. We performed a series of tests on the Electra telecom relay package, some of the Particles & Fields instruments from the University of California-Berkeley, the mass spectrometer from the Goddard Space Flight Center, and the spacecraft star trackers. The team also did a second round of magnetometer calibrations. The Goddard-built magnetometers are located at the tips of the spacecraft solar arrays. The calibration was conducted by rolling the spacecraft, using thrusters, about the three spacecraft axes.

We had scheduled a third Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM-3) for July 23rd. The first and second TCMs occurred in December 2013 and February 2014, respectively. The purpose of this maneuver is to adjust the “aim point” of MAVEN at its closest approach when it arrives at Mars, so that it can properly enter orbit around the planet. TCM-3 was cancelled because the flight path we are currently on did not warrant a correction maneuver. We are tracking right where we want to be. So the next, and probably final, TCM is planned for September 12th.

At the end of this month, we went into a “pre-Mars Orbit Insertion moratorium.” All systems required for a safe Mars Orbit Insertion remain powered on. But other systems like the instruments are shut down until late September because they are not needed for a successful MOI. We want the spacecraft system to be as “quiet” as possible and in the safest condition during the critical event on September 21st.

We had a significant technical review this month on our readiness for the Mars Orbit Insertion event in September and the Comet Siding Spring encounter in October. The review team included independent technical experts from the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, and other external aerospace consultants. The review went very well.

Speaking of Comet Siding Spring, the team has made final decisions on how we are going to operate the spacecraft during the comet’s closest approach. With safety as the highest priority, the plan is to take exciting science data of the comet and Mars’ atmospheric response a couple days before and after the comet’s closest approach on October 19th. On October 19th itself, we will go into a “hunker down” mode as the comet passes by the Mars vicinity. See the following link for a press release from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which details the plans for MAVEN and other Mars missions: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-244

To wrap up a very busy month, we had a gathering at the University of Colorado-Boulder for a science working group meeting. The team refined their science plans once we arrive at Mars in September. The scientists are very excited about the prospect of discoveries that will begin once we arrive at Mars in less than 2 months!

On Feb. 26, mission controllers performed a successful second trajectory correction maneuver, also known as TCM-2. Post-maneuver data review shows that TCM-2 went according to plan. This burn lasted approximately 19 seconds and imparted a change in velocity of 68.8 centimeters per second (1.54 mph). The maneuver was used to adjust the "aim point" of MAVEN at its closest approach when it arrives at Mars, so that it can properly enter orbit around the planet. All spacecraft systems continue to show nominal performance. TCM-1 occurred on Dec. 3, 2013. TCM-3 is scheduled for July 23.

MAVEN is at a distance of 21.2 million kilometers (13.2 million miles) from Earth and 103.7 million kilometers (64.4 million miles) from Mars. The current velocity is 29.44 kilometers per second (65,855 mph) as it moves around the sun.

MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colo. The university provided science instruments and leads science operations, as well as education and public outreach, for the mission. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the project and provided two of the science instruments for the mission. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory provided science instruments for the mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support and Deep Space Network support, in addition to the Electra hardware and operations.